Cash, not bureaucratic layers will remedy our hospitals - CHA

The solution to the country’s ailing health system is simply a matter of money, Catholic Health Australia (CHA) believes.

Mr
Francis Sullivan, who heads Catholic Health said the Federal Government
must take responsibility for hospitals and put more money into the
system, The Catholic Weekly reported.

While the Howard
Government has suggested Australia’s 750 public hospitals should
establish community boards with the power to appoint chief executives
from next year in a bid to boost accountability and improve patient
care, Mr Sullivan believes this endeavour will not fix the many
problems.

“It doesn’t make it any easier to acquire doctors and nurses,” Mr Sullivan said.

“It
doesn’t mean that more funding comes to the hospitals, and it certainly
doesn’t mean that automatically the quality of the hospitals services
improve.”

Health Minister Tony Abbott, who criticised State
Governments for micro-managing public hospitals, said the community
boards would reduce bureaucracy and tackle “systemic malaise” in the
public system.

However, Mr Sullivan said Mr Abbott was implying all would be well if there were local community boards.

“But
local boards can only manage with what they have been given, and most
hospitals are not being given enough to solve the problems.

“This is an issue about funding and resources – it’s not an issue of management.” he said.

Opposition
Leader Kevin Rudd said the Coalition policy would create administrative
chaos by creating “layer upon layer” of bureaucracy and that the answer
would be federal takeover of state hospitals in 2009 if standards have
not improved.